15 Times WWE Stars Made Cameos BEFORE They Were Famous
3. LA Knight
Damian Priest read the 'how to' pamphlet left by LA Knight on how to be an effective (and menacing) WWE "security guard". Pass it on. The future Eli Drake/Max Dupri/Knight appeared as part of a human wall designed to stop a ticked off CM Punk from getting to a smug Kevin Nash on the 15 August 2011 Raw. Forget how mince that storyline was - LA was immaculate.
He even had the smarts to stand out from the rest of the extras by cocking his head over Punk's shoulder to make sure the cameras could see him. That, dear readers, is somebody who understands how to maximise his minutes. There was no way Knight was leaving San Diego without being able to screenshot pics of his face to show friends and family.
Have you got to respect that hustle? Yeah.
Another bonus ball served up for LA is that Punk liked to rant on the mic in those days. So, Knight was at least certain of getting a good few minutes on camera that evening. He eyeballed Punk and watched the promo maestro work his magic. Internally, LA was surely taking notes he could use once it came time to cut his own WWE speeches. Admittedly, that was a while away yet.
Man, it's rough that WWE very nearly missed out on Knight's charisma just because Vince McMahon thought he should be a lower card manager (at best) instead. Thank God things changed, Dupri gave way to LA vibes, and Knight went from strength to strength as a performer who's really connected with the audience.